Page 15 - October 2005 The Game

Your Thoroughbred Racing Community Newspaper The Game, October 2005 15
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"A runner gets hurt and the owner or trainer can always get another; we can't," said Willick. "Ours are under saddle five hours a day, and in hot temperatures, so we use all sorts of saddle blankets and real sheep- skin pads. They need lots of leg work and foot work."
Willick and Collicutt and their horses work as a team, always keeping the runners between them. Whichever one rides out first will pause past the finish line and the jockeys will turn inside him and parade back up the stretch to the starting gate (in a route race). The other outrider will be by the gate awaiting the field, then ride down to the backstretch . After the race begins, the other outrider will take a position past the finish line.
To have a race proceed safely and fairly is a team effort, the out- riders emphasize, involving themselves, the jockeys, the pony girls who escort the Thoroughbreds, and the starting gate crew.
"The riders will say 'Watch this horse, after a race he likes to prop (stop suddenly) or spin,' said Willick. "Then we have to tell the pony girls which horses aren't used to being alongside a pony. Some horses, we see their names in the entries and we know we have to be more alert. And some jockeys may be a bit weak because they have to sweat off extra weight."
"The jockeys tell us about an
incident immediately after a race if they are going to claim a foul," adds Collicutt. "I think we've earned the riders' respect, they feel safe. Some things can be said in the heat of the moment, but 15 minutes later it's forgotten. We have to have eyes in the back of our heads, it seems, but you could have an outrider at every furlong pole and not always be able to prevent every incident."
"A good day is when we get paid for doing nothing," said Willick, who will be an outrider at Thistledown, near Cleveland, after the Fort Erie season ends. "If you don't notice us, then everything went smoothly. If you notice us, then someone was in danger of being injured.”
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Raising & Developing High Calibre Racehorses
Best friends Brian Collicutt (L) and John Willick are the afternoon outriders at the Fort Erie Racetrack. Their mounts are (L) Hustler, a former racing Quarter Horse, and Clinketts, a Thoroughbred who raced at Fort Erie.
endover Stables
Industry Gives to Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief
• Del Mar raised a total of $100,000 during the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend. A total of $50,000 was raised, which included $5,900 from jockey Victor Espinoza (his Sunday purse earnings) which was matched by the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
• Delaware Park owners, the Rickman Family, donated $1 million to the Good Neighbour Fund. Delaware horsemen also donated $250,000 of their purses to National Thoroughbred Racing Association Charities.
• Woodbine Entertainment Group, the operators of Woodbine and Mohawk Racetracks, matched the donations raised from racetrack patrons on September 3 and 4, with donations going to the Canadian Red Cross who transferred the funds to the American Red Cross.
• Ashford Stud has donated a nomination to Fusaichi Pegasus which will be auctioned off at the Fasig Tipton November Mixed Sale, the proceeds of which will be directed to the American Red Cross to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
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Our personal care and management combined with our years of experience promises that your horses will be professionally handled and well prepared for a successful career in racing
- Paul O’Sullivan & Melanie MacDonald, Managing Owners
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Large Paddocks with Automated Fresh Water Troughs & Run-In Sheds
Located in the Quiet Rolling Hills of King Township Call 905-939-2625 • Fax 905-939-9047
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